NHL Capsules: Rangers stay on top of NHL standings with win over Predators

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NHL Capsules: Rangers stay on top of NHL standings with win over Predators

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the New York Rangers stayed atop the NHL standings with a victory over Nashville that stopped the Predators' winning streak at five.

The Rangers had lost two of three entering Tuesday's game following a five-game winning streak.

John Mitchell scored midway through the second period and defenceman Dan Girardi had a goal in the first. Ryan Callahan was awarded a goal when he dived to try to knock the puck into the empty net in the final minute, and Martin Erat dived on top of him.

New York leads the NHL with 62 points.

The Predators have won eight of 10.

ISLANDERS 3, CAPITALS 0

WASHINGTON (AP)—Evgeni Nabokov stopped 17 shots to hand the Capitals their first shutout of the season, and the New York Islanders got two goals from PA Parenteau.

The last-place Islanders ended Washington's seven-game, home winning streak and denied the Capitals' bid to move past idle Florida into first place in the Southeast Division.

It was the 51st career shutout for the 36-year-old Nabokov and first with New York. He has 301 career wins, including eight this season.

Playing the last of back-to-back games and for the fourth time in six days, the Islanders converted three of 28 shots against Tomas Vokoun, who came in 14-3 with a 2.03 goals-against average in 17 starts at home.

John Tavares extended his point streak to a career-best 10 games with a power-play goal at 12:05 of the first period.

Moore stopped an 11-game goal drought and put Tampa Bay up 4-3 when he scored on Tim Thomas with a shot from the top of the left circle.

Steven Stamkos added his NHL-leading 31st goal into an empty net during the final minute.

Vincent Lecavalier, Tom Pyatt and Ryan Malone had the other goals for Tampa Bay.

Nathan Horton scored two goals, and Daniel Paille added a short-handed tally for the Northeast Division-leading Bruins, who beat Florida in a shootout on Monday.

FLYERS 5, WILD 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Sean Couturier scored a short-handed goal to lead a balanced attack, and Philadelphia topped Minnesota.

Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, Braydon Coburn and Jakub Voracek also had goals, and Jaromir Jagr had two assists for the Flyers, who got points from 12 players.

Darroll Powe scored against his former team for Minnesota's lone goal.

Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves to earn the win, a day after coach Peter Laviolette reiterated he is the Flyers' No. 1 goaltender. Bryzgalov is having the worst season of his nine-year career while backup Sergei Bobrovsky has far better stats.

The Flyers are 5-2 since losing the Winter Classic to the New York Rangers.

The Wild are 1-5-1 in their past seven games and 2-10-4 since winning seven in a row.

DEVILS 5, JETS 1

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals, giving him seven in six games, and New Jersey routed Winnipeg.

Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists, and Petr Sykora and David Clarkson also scored to give the Devils their third straight win and fifth in six games.

Martin Brodeur made 20 saves in recording his 14th win of the season and second over Winnipeg in four days. He came into the third period within reach of his first shutout of the season, but was beaten on a blast by defenceman Tobias Enstrom with 11:42 to play.

Brodeur, who has an NHL-record 116 shutouts, hasn't had a clean sheet since blanking Pittsburgh on March 25.

BLUE JACKETS 4, OILERS 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—Derek MacKenzie scored 32 seconds into the third period to help Columbus rally from a two-goal deficit and beat Edmonton.

The defeat in a matchup of the teams at the bottom of the Western Conference could be particularly costly for the Oilers, who lost Taylor Hall for the game during warm-ups when he collided with a teammate and fell. Hall cut his head on another teammate's skate and couldn't play.

Ryan Johansen and Derick Brassard also had goals, and Derek Dorsett added an empty-netter for the Blue Jackets, who had lost three of four and 11 of 14. Curtis Sanford made 21 saves.

Anton Lander and Ben Eager scored in the opening nine minutes for the Oilers, who have lost six of seven.

The Senators have climbed to fifth in the Eastern Conference and hold a nine-point advantage over the ninth-place Leafs.

Kyle Turris also scored for Ottawa, which hasn't dropped consecutive games in regulation since Nov. 9 and 11.

Matthew Lombardi and Joffrey Lupul scored for the Maple Leafs.

PENGUINS 2, HURRICANES 1, SO

PITTSBURGH (AP)—James Neal beat Cam Ward on the stick side in the shootout to lift Pittsburgh over Carolina.

Evgeni Malkin netted his 22nd goal of the season for the Penguins, and then scored to lead off the shootout as Pittsburgh won its third straight.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves and stopped Eric Staal's backhand bid to extend the shootout as Pittsburgh has rebounded following a six-game losing streak.

Ward made 40 saves for the Hurricanes, and Jamie McBain scored his fourth goal of the season, but Carolina struggled on the power play and couldn't take advantage of a couple of great chances against Fleury in overtime.

RED WINGS 3, STARS 2, SO

DALLAS (AP)—Jiri Hudler scored in the second round of the shootout, Detroit's Ty Conklin was perfect in all three rounds, and the Red Wings beat Dallas.

Hudler put on a nifty move to fake rookie Richard Bachman out of position and tucked the puck into the right side of the net.

Conklin denied Loui Eriksson, Michael Ryder and Trevor Daley in the shootout to earn the extra point for the Red Wings.

Brenden Morrow and Eriksson scored in regulation for Dallas, 1-3-1 in its last five.

Tomas Holmstrom and Hudler had regulation goals for Detroit, which has won four straight, including a 5-0 home win over Buffalo on Monday.

KINGS 3, CANUCKS 2, SO

VANCOUVER (AP)—Justin Williams and Mike Richards scored in the shootout, and Los Angeles handed Vancouver its second straight home loss.

Williams, who also scored in regulation, beat Roberto Luongo on the stick side. Richards, the fourth shooter, fired a shot in over Luongo's glove.

Alex Burrows scored in the shootout for the Canucks, who got regulation goals from Daniel Sedin and David Booth. Vancouver has lost third of five.

Dustin Penner opened the scoring for the Kings, who haven't won at Vancouver in regulation in seven games. Los Angeles is 8-1-5 under coach Darryl Sutter.

SHARKS 2, FLAMES 1, SO

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)—Michal Handzus and Brent Burns scored in the shootout, and San Jose rallied to a victory over Calgary.

Torrey Mitchell tied the game midway through the third period, and Antti Niemi made 27 saves and was perfect in the shootout. The Sharks earned just their third win all season when trailing after two periods.

Chris Butler scored the lone goal for the Flames, who have lost six straight road games. Calgary had been 14-0-2 when leading after two periods but was unable to hold onto this lead in the latest road disappointment. Miikka Kiprusoff made 30 saves.